NOTE: Throughout the month of July, BrownwoodNews.com is publishing stories daily on 40 standout citizens under the age of 40 making a positive impact and contribution within the Brown County community.
Howard Payne Athletic Director Hunter Sims has worked at the university for a decade, serving in the A.D. role the last six years, and was joined on campus two years ago by his wife Shannon, who serves as the school’s Director of Development.
“It’s interesting because we had both worked separately in our own careers for about 10 years before we started working under the same umbrella,” Hunter said.
Shannon came to HPU after previously working in the allied health field.
“I worked in the community for about 10 years as a physical therapist,” Shannon, 35, said. “I came to Howard Payne wanting to have more involvement with the student and the education process, but also really help get our allied health science programs off the ground, running and at full force.”
Regarding her greatest accomplishments to date during her time at HPU, Shannon said, “I would say the thing that I’m most proud of in my current role is how we have more than doubled our scholarship fundraising dollars, especially for students here in Brown County. One of the scholarships we developed was the Brown County Endowed Nursing Scholarship and it goes directly to support students in our community, Brown County and the surrounding area, who want to pursue a nursing degree at Howard Payne. We’ve truly tried to increase that support to try and make education more available for students, and specifically students in our community.”
While the Yellow Jackets and Lady Jackets have seen their share of success in the athletic arena during Hunter’s tenure, it’s the improvements made behind the scenes for which he’s most proud.
“The first one is our charter bus contract,” Hunter, 38, said. “We’re in our second five-year agreement with our charter bus company which means VIP Sports Getaway carries our teams 100 percent of the time. We chose them for the safety and well-being No. 1, and the student experience No. 2. It’s decked out with WiFi and plug-ins for their phones and DirecTV, they’re traveling well, and they can keep studying when they’re on the road to Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas or wherever we might be.
“The second thing would be our athletic insurance we provide. We have essentially 100 percent coverage for accident insurance for all of our student-athletes. That’s really big and it helps us in recruiting, but also lets the parents and the families know when they come to us, we’re treating them as our own and if they represent us we’re going to take care of them.
“The third thing would our BSN and Nike contract. We’re in a five-year contract that is automatically rolling every year and we’ll be in all Nike and Jordan brands 100 percent of the time. That’s a big deal in recruiting and shows our student-athletes we can give them the Division I experience at the Division III level.
“The last thing I would say is the staff we have and how they’ve bought into the community. Also, within our internal community they are extremely supportive of each other.”
Both Hunter and Shannon consider the opportunity to work together a blessing.
“We get to work together on a lot of projects that help engage the student experience,” Hunter said. “Whether it’s fundraising or events and planning, there’s a lot of crossover between Development and Athletics. We get to work together in that capacity which has been really fun because both of our areas focus on the student experience, which is one of (HPU) Dr. (Cory) Hines’ core values. And we get to work together to improve that.”
Shannon added, “It’s nice to be able to be on this journey together. The things that I used to attend with him as just his spouse now we are doing the work together.”
Away from the office, Shannon has been on the Good Samaritan Ministries Board of Directors for the last two years while Hunter serves on the board for Latch Key and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Hunter is also formerly a member of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce board.
“I still serve on the FCA board, but I stepped down as the chair a few months ago after about seven or eight years,” Hunter said. “I started on the Latch Key board about a year and a half ago and that’s been new and different for me, but I really enjoy that program and what it stands for and how Latch Key really tries to make a difference.”
Shannon added, “I also help out with things he serves on as well as ancillary work for FCA or Latch Key. We kind of do that all together.”
Regarding the importance of being involved in the community, Hunter said, “It’s an underlying mission for us the same way that we feel like Christian higher education is. We get the opportunity to try to best imprint and influence a younger generation that’s coming into their own into adulthood, especially having young kids involved with youth sports and supporting that. For me, not only personally but for the job, I feel it’s vital, critical, and essential. We need to be involved in our community to make Brownwood the best place it can be.”
“Coming from a mother’s perspective,” Shannon said, “we have an 8-year-old and a 6-year-old, and Brown County is just a wonderful place to raise children. The city has done so much recently in investing in parks and recreation and different events that are family oriented. It’s just a nice community with a great education system to be able to raise your kids. For as much as the community does for us and our children and our family, and for Howard Payne, it’s essential that we give back to the community.”